Everything
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They were sitting, three tables away from him. The man and woman stared at one another. From occasional glances he saw their eyes dilate and their skins become increasingly flushed. Each was bearing their teeth but in a non-threatening way.
Experimentally picking at the yellowish globs upon his plate, he tried not to focus on them. Choosing rather to determine the origin of what he was debating whether or not to put into his mouth. Besides he didn’t understand their behavior.
Then again, I don’t understand much of anything. He thought and put down his fork. Playing it safe, he took a bite of an odd shaped fruit instead. Without thinking he swallowed it down whole and nearly choked. Coughing he spit it out. Into his napkin and took a drink of orange juice. Grimacing at its intense flavor, for it seemed to burn rather than sooth his throat.
The tickling sensation would not go away. About to reach for the glass containing white liquid he changed his mind. He hadn’t tried it yet and decided to stick with what he knew. The water helped.
A little shaken, he put down the nearly empty glass. His stomach growled. And reluctantly he took another smaller bite of mild tasting fruit. Chewing it carefully, he strained to listen in on what they were saying. But their voices were too low and soft.
Everything when he first woke up a week ago seemed different, new and alien. Puzzled, he cocked his head and put down the remaining half of the banana. Ignoring the rest of his breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast he continued to watch them.
Absorbed in one another, for the time being they didn’t notice. As time passed he observed they touched one another with increased frequency and duration growing ever closer. Taking turns to whisper something in one another’s ears which earned either a smile or a laugh.
When the man pressed his lips to the woman’s his confusion only deepened. He stared at their hands. Studied how they held and moved over one another. Letting go, the man cupped her cheek before pulling away to leave.
Their eyes met by chance across the distance. It didn’t take him long to realized that although the display was in public, it regarded a private matter. For the man’s eyes sharpened in on him as his lips tightened in uncertainty. And by watching them, the man concluded that he had shown an interest. One that was unwelcome. In challenge the man did not look away. Although his instincts told him not to submit and show possible weakness, he dropped his eyes back down to his plate.
Correction, he dropped them down to his hands atop his plate. Feeling his cheeks go warm at the odd look the man gave, he lifted them. As he picked the bits of greasy egg off of his palms, he wondered why he kept unconsciously doing it. When he looked back up again, to his small relief, he found the man and woman had left.
With a napkin, he finished cleaning up as he analyzed the act he had just witnessed. So far he hadn’t come across anything relating to it in the information they had given him to listen to and watch. Nor had he found any mentioning in the few simple things they used to teach him to read.
Grimacing at his now smashed eggs, he picked up one of the slices of dry toast. Nibbling a corner he made a mental note. To try harder when it came to learning how to decipher the text they gave him. He disliked admitting what he did not know. And because of that he loathed to ask many questions when he could just as easily sit back and learn from what they freely mentioned. It would be only a matter of time before he would discover what the two were doing and why on his own. Till then he would bide his time watching, listening and learning more about this new life.
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One: First Impressions ->
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